


Dark Horse

by hookerspice78



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-24
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-06 01:49:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1839907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hookerspice78/pseuds/hookerspice78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is based off a prompt I received a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to see Dark!Knight Killian and Princess Emma so I delivered. She had loved him for so long, had wanted to spend the rest of her life with him until one day a cruel twist of fate happened and he disappeared from her life only to be found years later. She knew him but she couldn't recognize him, the man she knew. Will she have the power to return the light to his life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: The Raid

She heard the screams, the swish of the swords slicing through flesh and bit her lip to keep herself from crying, screaming or even worse vomiting. The scent of the dusty furniture invaded her senses and the tickle of the cobwebs against her skin made her shudder. She knew her elegant ball gown made of silk and lace was ruined beyond repair now with stains of blood, dirt and tears. She had to remain quiet though the Queen’s knights were storming their castle hell bent on murdering her parents Snow and David, the heirs to the throne that the queen sat upon now and refused to give up. 

The queen, Regina was her step grandmother and her goal was to destroy everyone in the royal family. Starting with her parents and then her, she was wrapped up in vengeance and hate. Emma swallowed hard and felt fresh tears escape down her cheeks as she crouched in her hiding spot, along forgotten secret room in the palace. It used to be so grand, this room she was in a library that Emma would’ve loved had it been completed now all that stood in this room was dusty furniture and cobwebs but right now it was her haven keeping her hidden from the Queens Black Knights and the evil queen her self. 

She thought she was safe until she heard the large wooden door behind her splinter as someone had kicked it in. Emma heard the loud gasp escape her lips before she could stop herself, she felt the strong grip wrap around her arm squeezing tightly. She knew she was discovered, this was her last breath of the palace air before she was captured or even worse.

She tried to scream only to have a black gloved hand cover her mouth and the feeling of armour against her back. She felt heated breath caress the skin of her neck, as she tried to fight her captor only to have him tighten his hold against her.

‘Shhh, Princess.” A whispered voice replied. She had heard that soft accented voice before but for the life of her couldn’t recall who it was now. “Wait; don’t move.” He whispered again as he turned her body around to face him.

“I’ll scream!!’ She cried. “My parents will have your head.”

“No they won’t.” Was all he said, before he ripped his mask from his features; she felt her breath catch in her throat as she met ocean blue eyes, eyes that she would recognize anywhere. They were the same ones she loved from her childhood, but they were different. There was darkness, there was a sadness in them Emma had never seen before. She felt his arms tighten around her waist as he pulled her even tighter against his body. His lips were hovering over hers.

“Killian.” Was all she could manage to say. She saw him bow his head sadly.

“Aye.”

“What…what are you doing? Why are you dressed like that?” Emma asked only to be silenced by his index finger.

“Shh, please my princess. Go…go NOW before they catch up. Go to our spot, I will meet you there and I will explain everything I swear to you. But right now I need you to go, I need you to run because if they catch up to you they will kill you and I can’t bear to lose you again.” He whispered and placed a chaste kiss upon her cheek.

He released her and pushed her towards the secret exit to the courtyard. Emma heard shouts and the shuffle of feet as they ran closer she could only look back at the man she recognized, but didn’t know before she pushed on the door and ran as the sun beat down on her back.


	2. Chapter Two: The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to the overwhelming response about this story, here you go. The next chapter in this emotional journey. I apologize in advance, I do promise there will be a happy ending but for now we have this. Enjoy!!! And keep your comments, likes and kudos coming they fuel my fire. And please do tell a friend the more the merrier. :)
> 
> This is based off a prompt I received a couple of weeks ago. She wanted to see Dark!Knight Killian and Princess Emma so I delivered. She had loved him for so long, had wanted to spend the rest of her life with him until one day a cruel twist of fate happened and he disappeared from her life only to be found years later. She knew him but she couldn't recognize him, the man she knew. Will she have the power to return the light to his life?

The fresh breeze of the summer air wrapped around her, Emma sighed and inhaled the scent of the ocean below. She ran to their spot, standing dangerously close to the edge of the cliff as she waited for him. 

How could this be? She thought. How could he show up after so many years? He had left disappeared out of her life when they were both nineteen she didn’t even get the chance to explain why her parents had arranged her marriage to the Dark One’s only son, Baelfire. 

She didn’t even get the chance to tell Killian to take her away, that it wasn’t Bae she was in love with it was him. She’d been in love with Killian Jones since they were kids. She never stopped loving him even when she agreed to marry Bae in a desperate attempt to forget the man she truly loved. She had wanted to learn to love her husband but couldn’t for her heart was already taken. It belonged to the boy with the ocean blue eyes and soft accented voice, the boy who made her heart pound when he whispered her name, the boy that she had shared her first kiss with and so much more. Even as Bae lay her down on their marital bed all she could think about was Killian. As the years passed, her heart had learned to hide him away, hide him away in a spot that would never be penetrated. She had learned to live the life of a wife to the prince from a neighbouring kingdom, she had learned to hide her heartbreak over that boy so long ago and she had learned to put on a façade as she hid the scars and the bruises on her body from her husband. She had never even felt sadness over Bae’s death from Pneumonia years later; she felt relief for now she was free to love and to find the man who held her heart for so many years. The only problem was she didn’t know where to begin to find Killian Jones, he had disappeared without a trace even his brother Liam and his wife, Elizabeth; were vague about his whereabouts. They practically shoved her out the door at her inquiries, with fear in their eyes.

She had given up all hope of finding him until today, today when he swept back into her life. He had saved her, but had appeared to be working for her family’s sworn enemy. Emma felt her lips quiver and moisture pooling in the corners of her eyes as she remembered what he looked like dressed as darkness. Her legs grew weak from exertion as she collapsed on the ground. He had saved her she thought again, but it appears that he was involved in the raid upon her family’s home. Why? Why would he do that? Why would he work for Regina? Was all she could ask herself as she waited for Killian to show up at this spot, their spot. She heard the familiar shuffle of feet behind her and could already smell him, his unique scent of the sea and musk and the new scent of rum. She didn’t look up even as she felt his hand upon her shoulder and the warmth of his body beside her.

“You’re here.” She heard him whisper. “You came. I wasn’t sure you would after seeing me like that.”

“I did, Killian.” She whispered as she shuffled closer to him. “Because I need to know why.”

She heard him sigh deeply beside her and finally found the courage to look at him; she saw the tears pool in the depths of his eyes. She saw him bite his lip nervously as he struggled to find the words. 

“Killian Jones, please tell me. I beg of you.” She cried. 

“It all started that day your parents announced your impending marriage to Baelfire. Emma, love you knew of my discontent with him and his father you knew how I felt about you. It wasn’t even a day later after I poured my heart out to you that your engagement was announced.” Killian replied so quietly that Emma had to shift closer to him to hear. 

“I’m sorry, Killian I truly am. That wasn’t me in fact I had no idea about it. You knew I loved you, only you.” 

“I know, but after that I didn’t believe you. I lost my faith in us and you. I ran and when I came back to find you. You were already wed. Do you have any idea what that did to me?” He cried, as his fingers brushed the tears escaping down his cheek away. 

“I know what it did to you, because it did the same to me. All I knew was that you had left; abandoned me. I didn’t know where you were so I had to hide my feelings for you behind lock and key. I never loved Bae, I only agreed to marry him because you were gone. But now…now you show up years later dressed as that.” She gestured to the traditional black armour of the Queen’s army. “How could you betray me? Betray my family like this?”

Killian sighed and tried to reach for her only to have her pull away. “I had no choice, my princess you must believe me.”

“Why, Killian why must I believe you? All I see is this and all I remember is how I felt when you left.” She shouted, she couldn’t fight the tears anymore and felt them escape down her cheek. “All I see now is your disrespect to my family and me; by choosing to work with the queen who is trying to kill us.”

“It’s not that, Emma. Please, let me explain. She threatened my family, threatened to kill Liam and his wife and my nephew if I didn’t work for her. I did not know we were going after you and your family until just recently. She threatened to execute everyone I love, including you if I fought her on this. She still will if she finds out I’m here and I helped you. Your parents have been captured, Emma. You must believe me; we need to help each other more so now than ever. I still love you and will do anything in my power to get you and your family and my family into safety.” 

With that Emma stood, her tears blurring her vision. “I…I can’t Killian. I still love you too, but this all this it’s too much. You knew she was coming after me and didn’t warn me. She’s got my parents and I don’t trust you now.”

“But…but I saved you.” Was all he could say as she turned and walked away.

“I know, Killian. I know and I’m sorry.”

TBC


	3. Chapter Three: The Vow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lack of updates lately it's hard finding writing time with my kiddo home for the summer but it was worth the wait. Here is Chapter three. I do hope you enjoy and keep those likes, comments and kudos coming I feed of them. And tell a friend you know you want to.;) So without further adieu here is chapter three. Enjoy!!!
> 
> This is based off a prompt I received a while back. She wanted to see Dark!Knight Killian and Princess Emma so I delivered. She had loved him for so long, had wanted to spend the rest of her life with him until one day a cruel twist of fate happened and he disappeared from her life only to be found years later. She knew him but she couldn't recognize him, the man she knew. Will she have the power to return the light to his life?

He lifted the dark amber bottle to his lips, wrapping his lips around the spout only to find that the alcohol was no longer. This was his second bottle and the pain, the scorching pain of his heart was still there. It was still shattered and torn; he had thought that by saving her he would’ve redeemed himself in her eyes just a little bit. He had thought wrong, she hated him. Yes she admitted she still loved him, but he could see the hatred and the pain of his betrayal burning in the depths of her emerald green eyes. He growled and threw the bottle across the room listening to it shatter much like his heart once again.

Killian wished more than anything he could go back in time, back to the time when they were both young and innocent. As he ran his heads through his midnight black hair, he remembered the moment he had laid eyes on the beautiful princess. He had been a boy about eight and had just arrived in the Americas with his family from their small town in Ireland, they were lucky enough to find shelter and work in the palace of the crowned Princess Snow White and her husband, Prince David. He remembered being in awe at seeing the beauty of the kingdom and the castle, he remembered how lucky he felt that his father, Niall had procured the job of a stable hand for the Royal family and his mother, Fiona had managed to become one of the palace’s servants Killian and his older brother, Liam would help out their father sometimes but most times young Killian was happy going off on his own to explore the palace grounds. It was one of his explorations that bought him to a secluded cliff that overlooked the sea below, he would sit under the willow tree and draw in his sketchbook and one day he realized he wasn’t alone.

Beneath that willow tree sat a girl about his age, with hair the color of sunlight and skin as pale as marble, she had her back turned to him as he approached. He was young but he felt his breath catch as he set his eyes on her, the sun shining like an halo around her body she sat and read. He remembered thinking how beautiful she was even though they were both young he felt a wave of uncertainty pass through his body. He wanted to approach but was frightened. He was lost the moment she looked up and saw him; she was the princess Emma, the eldest child of Snow and David. He remembered as he backed away not wanting to disrupt her but she had stopped him as she came up to him and asked him to stay with her.

He felt tears rushing to his eyes again, as he remembered from that moment on they were both smitten. He had fallen in love with Emma, his princess that day as she had with him. Killian growled and searched the cupboards in his modest shack that Regina had provided for him rejoicing as he found more rum and uncorked it with his teeth, taking a large swig he cried as the liquid burned his throat. 

He collapsed to the ground, he knew that once she had found out he was one of the Queen’s knights she would hate him but he also had to explain to her how he did it for her, for her family, for his. Once he had refused the Queen’s advances towards him, she had gripped his heart in his chest and told him that if he didn’t bow to her she would murder everyone, everything he loved and that included the woman who had his heart. He had agreed to work for her and that seemed to please her. That’s when he vowed to take her down from within her ranks but first he had to get Emma to trust him again.

The words of his father came back to haunt him. “A man unwilling to fight for what he wants; deserves what he gets.” That had him back on his feet and out the door, he would fight for his princess if it was the last thing he did. He needed her, he loved her, bad blood and past heartbreak be damned. Killian Jones would be the man he once was for her, for his beloved princess again.

She woke up in a pool of sweat, the morning sun beating down on her through the window in her modest room at the inn in the nearest town to her palace. She had fled, fled from her family home, fled from him and fled from her family. She went to the only place that she could, the old bed and breakfast that their family friend the Widow Lucas or Granny as everyone called her owned. She knew she couldn’t stay for Regina would find her, but right now she had no choice.

The tears that had escaped her eyes last night had stained her cheek. She looked at her self in the mirror; the red puffy eyes and tear stained face of a girl lost met her. She didn’t look like the princess, she was. Her beauty hidden beneath the dirt and dust of the forest she ran through. Her family was gone and the one man she thought she could trust had betrayed her. She was lost. 

Emma collapsed on the side of the claw foot tub in her tiny room and buried her face in her hands. She was crying, crying over the heartache she felt once again as she looked upon the face of the only man she loved, he was unrecognizable to her now. 

She turned on the water and let it fill the tub as she watched mesmerized by the rushing water. It bought her back to the place where it all began the cliff on the long forgotten corner of her parent’s land. It bought her back to that summer day when she laid her eyes upon the most beautiful boy she had ever seen; he was the same age as her the tender age of eight. His eyes were as blue as the ocean and his hair the color of the midnight sky, and when he smiled at her the world disappeared around them. 

Emma slid into the tub and let the warmth of the water consume her; she closed her eyes and laid her head back against the side of the tub. She felt the tears once again trail down her face. Her sobs racked through her body as she remembered that young boy, remembered how she fell in love with him that day. She remembered how her heart shattered as he joined the royal navy and sailed away, she remembered the day he came back and how he vowed himself to her as she did to him. They walked towards the palace hand in hand, happier than either of them had ever been before and she remembered how her world collapsed when her parents announced she was already betrothed had been before she was born and she remembered his icy stare as he disappeared into the forest that day.

Her body shook as her cries echoed off the walls of the tiny bathroom, she still loved him. She wanted that boy back, she wanted him back. But she wondered if she could ever bring herself to trust him again. 

And as she wrapped the towel around her body and returned to the bedroom, Emma vowed she would find that boy again and she could maybe find her trust again.

TBC


End file.
